5 Things we learned from the FA Cup fourth round

The FA Cup was centre stage this weekend as the fourth round ties served up another helping of high drama.

Here, Press Association Sport's Jim van Wijk looks at five things we learned from another memorable set of fixtures.

Crazy Gang dream on

Former Dons midfielder Wally Downes was the toast of Kingsmeadow after his Sky Bet League One strugglers sent West Ham packing with a 4-2 victory, having raced into a 3-0 lead early in the second half. While it may not have made the same headlines that Lawrie Sanchez's header and Dave Beasant's penalty save did at Wembley more than 30 years ago, few would begrudge the south-west London club another little slice of FA Cup history and the target of another big-name scalp in round five.

Ole on his way to Wembley?

The Ole Gunnar Solskjaer effect shows no signs of slowing down, with a freshened-up Manchester United securing a hard-earned 3-1 win at Arsenal on Friday night to kick off the weekend's ties with what was an eighth straight win under the caretaker boss. There is, of course, a long way to go over the course of the season – but momentum is a major force in football. No-one will fancy facing United in this form, home or away – but a trip to Old Trafford would at least boost the coffers, if not perhaps offer genuine hope of progress.

It's still magic

The jubilant scenes from AFC Wimbledon fans and those hardy souls from Newport who made the journey long journey up to the Riverside Stadium showed just what pulling off a memorable FA Cup result still means.

VAR – now you see me...

While the case for and against the Video Assistant Referee system continues to rumble on, at least where it is in place, the element of doubt should be put aside – well, in theory anyway. You can understand why Everton boss Marco Silva was less than impressed there was no technological help for the officials to spot a handball by Jake Cooper to nudge home a second goal for the Lions. Sunday's decision to overturn an early penalty for Sheffield Wednesday at Chelsea once Andre Marriner had been given the benefit of a second pair of eyes, not to mention plenty of angles or super slow motion, might not have ended up being a game changer, but at least it was correct. Little comfort that might be to the Toffees.

Plenty for Poch to ponder

While both Carabao Cup finalists Manchester City and Chelsea were both able to navigate a safe passage into Monday's fifth-round FA Cup draw, Tottenham saw their hopes of staying in the hunt for silverware ended with defeat at Crystal Palace. While boss Mauricio Pochettino can point to missing key men like captain Harry Kane and Dele Alli, the squad still should have had enough strength in depth to get the job done at Selhurst Park. South Korea striker Son Heung-min will, though, soon be back in the fold from the Asian Cup to lead from the front – and try to make sure a campaign which promised so much does not fade away.

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